by J. R. Tate
Mary put her shoes on and followed him out the door. “I’m with you all the way.”
Charlie wasn’t sure what he was feeling, but with Mary by his side, he felt like he could take on the world.
When he got there, Mary stayed in the truck. He wasn’t going to force her to go inside if she didn’t want to, and it would make it feel a bit awkward. He knocked hard, expecting Cassie to not answer, but the door squeaked open, revealing her on the other side. Her eyes were squinted, her hair was a mess, and she looked half asleep.
“Charlie? What are you doing here?”
“We need to talk. Now. And I’m not taking no for an answer.”
He was surprised when she didn’t fight him, and he pushed inside. The house was a mess. Her clothes were scattered all over the couch and the table had mail and other trash on it. She was never an amazing housekeeper, but it was never this bad.
“What are you doing here?” she repeated, pulling a cigarette from a package on the table.
“You see the paper today?”
“No.”
“You know what I’m talking about though. You’ve been busy running your mouth to the news stations, haven’t you?” Charlie stepped closer to her. If he wasn’t mistaken, she looked like she was high on something. “Where is Gavin? Is he here?”
She shook her head. “No. He’s with my parents.”
“I want to see him,” Charlie said, looking around the room. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the mirror and the cocaine hidden behind a stack of mail. He literally saw red and sat down on the couch, pointing at it. “When did you start up this habit?”
Cassie ignored his question and took a deep puff off of the cigarette, exhaling a stream from her nose and mouth. “You can’t see him. I’m going to get a restraining order on you.”
“On what grounds? I’m not the one snorting cocaine. What the hell, Cassie? Our daughter is missing and you start doing this?” His voice rose and he stood up again. “You need to be sober. How are we going to find her if we’re not functioning?”
“Says the man who came over here hung over.” She pointed the cigarette at him and giggled. “You think I’ve forgotten how you look after you drink? You must’ve really downed a bunch last night. You don’t look good.”
“You see a mirror lately, Cassie? I can say the same thing about you.”
“Where is Skylar, Charlie? Why are you doing this? Why?”
“I don’t have her, Cassie!” He looked back down at the cocaine. “I should tell the detectives that you have this.”
“You wouldn’t do that.” She shook her head and put the butt of the cigarette out in an ashtray next to the mirror.
“No? You haven’t blinked an eye when it comes to slamming me. Why should I make an exception for you?”
“I’ll just get rid of it. Then they’ll get you for lying to them. Give it up, Charlie.” She looked out the window. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. You brought her here?”
“She’s my friend, Cassie. I don’t think you know what that word means.”
“More like your fuck buddy, right? I bet you two were messing around long before we ever considered getting divorced, weren’t you? Those nights you stopped at the bar you were really at her house, weren’t you?” Cassie got in his face, so close that they could touch noses if he leaned any closer.
“I never cheated on you, Cassie. Just like I never would hurt Skylar, no matter how much you want to believe it.”
“What about now? I can see it in your eyes. You love her, don’t you?” Cassie’s voice shook, and Charlie tried to be sympathetic, but he couldn’t. She was high on cocaine, blaming him and lying to the cops and the media. He wasn’t going to let her play him too.
“What I do now is none of your business, Cassie.”
Taking a step back, she slapped him right across the face. It stung and he balled his fists to control his anger. She was trying to get a rise out of him. She wanted anything she could to use against him and he wasn’t going to give her that power.
“Get out of my house, Charlie,” Cassie whispered. “I will never let you see Gavin again.”
Charlie stepped toward the door, looking down at the drugs and back to the woman he once loved. It killed him to see her like this, even if that love was gone. They had shared good times together and he never would have imagined things would get to where they were at that moment.
“If I find out you have Gavin here alone with you, I’ll have the detectives over here so fast your head will spin. Get off the drugs. Get your mind right so we can get Skylar home.” He knew he should report it, and maybe he still would.
“Don’t threaten me, Charlie. Get out.” Her glare was cold and dead. There was no emotion behind her expression.
Turning, Charlie slammed the door behind him. Mary was standing at the back of the truck, leaning on the bed. “Everything okay? Sounds like it got pretty heated in there.”
“It did. Complete waste of time.”
He wasn’t going to say anything about the cocaine unless Mary happened to hear. They weren’t exactly quiet. It was something he didn’t want to talk about or think about – it was another problem added to his ever-growing list of issues he had no solution for. He had to tell someone about her drug usage that could do something about it, but who? No one would believe a word he said. At least Gavin wasn’t there. Maybe her parents were on top of it, making sure he wasn’t in a home where he’d be neglected or hurt.
“I’m not sure what we need to do next,” Charlie said as he pulled the truck back out to the street.
Mary took his hand, and he was growing fond of the sweet embrace. In the rush of life, it had been forever since he had enjoyed such a simple gesture. Her loyalty was appreciated, and he wondered why she wasn’t abandoning him along with everyone else. He knew her better than anyone else, and their years of friendship were the only thing he had to hold onto.
“Lets go to my house for a bit. Change of scenery might do you some good, Charlie.”
“Okay, sounds good. I gotta stop for some gas and we’ll head that way.”
He pulled into the nearest convenience store and parked by a pump, his heart skipping a beat when he saw Detective Garza and Milson park in front of his truck, hindering him from moving. Detective Garza approached the driver’s side and tapped on the window. Charlie hesitated at first, but rolled it down. If he dug his heels in now, it wouldn’t help him.
“We hear you made a visit to Cassie’s today, Charlie. Care to explain?”
Looking over at Mary, Charlie shook his head. “We have to do this here?”
“Are we interrupting something?” Detective Milson stood beside her partner, an arrogant smirk on her face.
“Just getting gas, Detectives. And yeah, I stopped by her place.”
“You have a few minutes to come down to the station with us?”
“For what?” Charlie felt his pulse quicken, thumping in the side of his head like a ticking time bomb. He wasn’t guilty, but the cops had a way of making him feel like that.
“We’ve got a few things to discuss, Mr. Wright. It won’t take long. Your lady friend can come get you when we’re done.” Detective Garza opened the door, motioning for him to get out.
“I already talked to you at my house. We can’t go back there?”
“No. We have a boss who would like us to take you back to the station. Is there a problem?”
“Of course not.” Charlie nudged Mary’s arm and forced a smile. “I’ll call you when I’m done, okay?”
“Okay, Charlie. I’ll see you in a little bit.” If Mary was nervous, she wasn’t showing it, and he admired how cool and collected she was staying. If they knew what he was thinking, they’d suspect him just from the inner panic attack he was having.
Placing him in the back of the cruiser, Charlie looked out of the back window until his truck was out of sight. The car was quiet, neither detective saying anything. They didn’t put him in handcuffs or read him his rig
hts, so was this an arrest? He thought about the Miranda Rights and the specific line - anything can and will be used against you ran through his head.
“Am I under arrest?” Charlie asked.
“No. We just wanna talk. Should this be an arrest?” Detective Milson asked.
Just as Charlie suspected, they were going to twist everything he said. Should he get a lawyer? He certainly didn’t have the money to hire a good one, and the last thing he needed was a first year public defender stumbling and messing something up.
“Oh, he’s gone silent on us now,” Milson said to Garza.
They took him to a private office on the second floor of the police station and made him sit for what felt like hours. When they finally came in, they offered him some water or coffee, and Charlie declined both.
Sitting across from him, both detectives stared at him for what seemed like another thirty minutes before they finally broke the silence.
“What were you doing at Cassie’s today?”
“I went to talk to her about a few things.”
“Like what? She called us and told us you were angry. You said she was lying about all of the stuff in the newspaper.”
Charlie picked at the paint on the table. “I’m not sure how my relationship problems with my ex relate to finding my daughter, Detectives. What she said is false. I never threatened to take the kids. I never threatened her in general. But I shouldn’t waste my time. It’s like you’re believing everything she says before you confirm it.”
“We have eye witnesses claiming that you did fight with her a lot. Not to mention the witness who saw you fighting with Skylar the day she disappeared. You haven’t given us much else to believe. You were the last one to speak to her before she disappeared, and we found her phone smashed up in the alley behind your place.”
“I live in a duplex. I share the alley with the other tenant. And the things Cassie and me fought about were not threats. Whoever claims they witnessed it doesn’t know what was said. It’s all hearsay.” Charlie sat up in the chair. It was uncomfortable, probably meant to be that way, and the heat in the room was starting to grow. He could feel the sweat drip into his eyes, and he feared they’d see it as a sign of weakness. They probably turned the thermostat up on purpose as well.
“Cassie has been a lot more open to us about everything. You haven’t given us much, Charlie.” Detective Garza stood up and paced as Detective Milson made her exit. It made the room feel less crowded, but Charlie couldn’t help but wonder what she was leaving to do.
“While we’re on the subject of being open, did she let you know she’s using cocaine? I saw it on her table today. Right out in the open. But I’m willing to bet she had it all cleaned up by the time you went to talk to her.” He wasn’t going to say anything, but now was a good time to bring it up. If anything, maybe it would stay in the back of their minds the next time they wanted to consider Cassie a credible source.
Detective Garza sat back down and ran his fingertip over his eyebrows. “Right now all I see is two exes who are in the middle of a mud slinging bash on each other. It’s apparent this has been a dirty divorce, and a child going missing doesn’t help. Right now all signs point to you, Mr. Wright. The smashed phone, the argument, all of that stuff doesn’t look good for you. We still have a team going through her computer and her personal belongings. That’s taking some time. The time between you getting home that day and going to pick up your son is unaccounted for. It’s like poof, she disappeared into thin air.”
Charlie chewed on the inside of his cheek and leaned back in the chair. He was on the verge of losing it all, and being viewed as a criminal was about to be his breaking point.
“I don’t have anything else to give you, Detective Garza. I told you everything, exactly how it happened that day. Someone took my daughter when I went to pick up Gavin. If all you are going to do is blame me for it and go on that assumption, and yes, it is an assumption because you have no evidence, then I guess I’m going to have to get out there and figure it out myself. I won’t waste my time pointing fingers at the wrong guy like you’re doing to me right now. Every second you have me here is another second that my daughter is in danger. I just want her home. I want her safe. I want to know what happened.”
“Talk is cheap,” Detective Garza replied. “You’re right. We don’t have any solid evidence, at least, not yet. But I’m sure combing through her electronics will slowly reveal things we can use, layer by layer. Sit tight until then. This is far from over.”
Charlie stood up and folded his arms over his chest. “As you stated in the car – I’m not under arrest. You have nothing to hold me on, so with all due respect, Detective, I’d like to get the hell out of here and do something productive, like find my daughter.”
“You’re free to go at any time you’d like, Mr. Wright.” Detective Garza motioned toward the door, smiling.
Making his exit, Charlie hurried downstairs, feeling hopeless, worried, and like he could crawl out of his own skin. He couldn’t wait for Mary to come pick him up - partly to get away from the cops, but mostly because she had a way to calm him down. Without that, he probably would have already drunk himself to death.
Chapter Seven
A few weeks had passed since Skylar had disappeared with no news of where she was. Charlie had spent most of his time looking for her, trying to figure out what could have happened, only to come up short. Like Detective Garza had put it, it was like she had vanished into thin air. In that time, the police had not let up on their investigation of Charlie. When he asked about her computer and cell phone records, he got the run around. No one told him much of anything; only that he was still the main person of interest, with the lack of evidence being the only thing keeping him a free man.
In that time, his health had failed. Though he hadn’t noticed the weight loss, his clothes were fitting him loosely and he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since he could remember. Mary had been by his side the whole time, but just like with his job, she was running out of vacation and personal time off, and they both had to get back to work in order to stay employed.
He had minimal contact with Cassie, and in the short conversations he had with her, it was hard to tell if she was still using. Gut instinct told him she was, but Charlie didn’t stress too bad since Gavin was still not staying with her. What she did on her free time didn’t concern him, as long as his kid wasn’t involved.
The detectives checked up on him about twice a week, just to make it known that they hadn’t given up on attempting to put him away. Charlie was at a loss on what to do next – the thought of his little girl out there somewhere, missing, didn’t sit well. In desperation he tried hard to develop his own investigation, but there was absolutely nothing to work with.
He had gotten used to staying at Mary’s place. She was right – it was a good change of scenery, and there weren’t many reminders of Skylar there. He felt bad about it – Mary probably wanted time alone, and here he was, overtaking her place because being alone is what he feared. She never complained and always welcomed him in, but he wondered how well she was hiding it. One day he would ask, when he’d finally work the courage up.
“So, you go back to work tomorrow?” Mary asked, sitting next to him on the couch. Patting his knee, she turned the TV down.
“I do. It’s going to be strange. Like I’m sort of accepting that this is the way life will be. Skylar is gone. Life moves on. That feels wrong.”
“No, I don’t think of it that way. You gotta do what you gotta do. No reason to lose your job in the middle of it all.” Sipping on a beer, she offered it to him, and he accepted. “I go back tomorrow. Going to do the day shift for a bit and see how it goes.”
“Day shift? I thought you liked working nights. Better tips, right?”
“Not necessarily. The lunch crowd tips pretty well too, believe it or not. I just figure I’ll try something new if the schedule allows, and it does right now.”
Charlie finished
the beer and scooted the bottle across the table. “As long as you promise me it’s not because of me. If you wanna work nights, do it. I’m a big boy.”
“It’s not because of you, Charlie. I promise.” She smiled and nudged him. “I’m sure I’ll eventually go back to nights, but for now, this is what I wanna try.”
Charlie wasn’t sure if she believed him or not, but he didn’t have the energy to argue with her. “I want you to know that what you’ve done for me these past few weeks is nothing short of amazing. You’re a good friend, and I can’t thank you enough for all of the support.”
“I’d do it again if I had to, Charlie. You’re my best friend. I hope we’ll get some good news soon. I have to have faith in that or else I’ll go crazy.”
“I wish your positive attitude was contagious. You’re helping me get through this, even if it doesn’t feel like it.” Charlie went to the fridge and grabbed another beer, drinking half of it before handing it to Mary. “Something has gotta give. I guess I need to start looking harder. The cops obviously aren’t. According to them, I’m the guy they want, they’re just crossing their fingers the evidence pops up. All while Skylar’s life hangs in the balance.”
Sitting back, he closed his eyes. He felt Mary’s smooth palm on his arm and it felt electric against his skin.
“I don’t blame you, Charlie. It’s hard just sitting and waiting.”
“You know, there’s nights I lay awake thinking about it all.” Charlie kept his eyes closed. He had never admitted this to anyone. “I often wonder if Skylar is even alive anymore. It’s been almost three weeks and they always say the first forty-eight hours is crucial. What if she’s, you know, dead in a field, just waiting for someone to discover her body?”
Mary’s fingers intertwined with his and he opened his eyes. There was a tear in the corner of her eye and she wiped it away. “We can’t think like that. She’s alive. We’ll say that until proven otherwise, Charlie.”
Turning to face her, Charlie cupped her cheek, skimming his thumb over her bottom lip. Leaning into his touch, he cupped her other cheek with his other hand, gently holding her face.